Charter schools enrich education

By Halifax Media

Published: Sunday, September 30, 2012 at 04:29 PM.

According to a report recently issued by Louisiana state education officials, nearly 5,000 students from some of the worst of that state’s schools have chosen to use vouchers to attend private schools.

The report showed that 14 percent of the voucher students migrated from low-performing public schools.

The move has proven unpopular with that state’s public school systems, although statistics show it costs Louisiana less than sending the same students to public schools.

There’s a reason why public school educators do not like it: Students who use vouchers remove income from the state’s public schools. If enough students migrate, the public schools could lose teaching positions.

North Carolinahas been testing the waters of a similar program, with legislators still weighing the issue. The divide over the question of a voucher system largely lies between Republicans who have endorsed the concept and many professional educators who do not.

The state has moved forward on another alternative educational system — charter schools. North Carolina will have an additional 25 charter schools opening next year.

The State Board of Education gave the go-ahead earlier this month to the additional charter schools to open in August of next year, which will bring the state’s total charters to 107, according to a story by The Associated Press.

According to a report recently issued by Louisiana state education officials, nearly 5,000 students from some of the worst of that state’s schools have chosen to use vouchers to attend private schools.

The report showed that 14 percent of the voucher students migrated from low-performing public schools.

The move has proven unpopular with that state’s public school systems, although statistics show it costs Louisiana less than sending the same students to public schools.

There’s a reason why public school educators do not like it: Students who use vouchers remove income from the state’s public schools. If enough students migrate, the public schools could lose teaching positions.

North Carolinahas been testing the waters of a similar program, with legislators still weighing the issue. The divide over the question of a voucher system largely lies between Republicans who have endorsed the concept and many professional educators who do not.

The state has moved forward on another alternative educational system — charter schools. North Carolina will have an additional 25 charter schools opening next year.

The State Board of Education gave the go-ahead earlier this month to the additional charter schools to open in August of next year, which will bring the state’s total charters to 107, according to a story by The Associated Press.

Much like the school voucher programs, charter schools allow students who wish to attend one to do so via payment from the public system, diverting funding from the school where a student would normally be enrolled to the new school. Critics say the schools are difficult for some students to access as many do not provide student transportation, and many charter schools are clustered in the state’s metropolitan areas.

But proponents of the charter system point out that such schools allow many students to concentrate on subjects where they show an increased interest, such as the arts or sciences.

Despite criticism, charter schools appear to be in the state to stay. In some counties — such as Person and Pamlico, with about 16 percent of their students enrolled in charter schools in the 2011-12 school-year — charter schools are obviously enhancing local educational needs.

Charter schools certainly are not the sole cure for what ails public schools, but they are a great alternative for students looking for something beyond the traditional system.

When viewed over the long haul, charter schools shouldn’t subtract from local education, but enrich the experience.

By offering more choices, the program should spur the public system to up its game.

And isn’t enriching the educational experience pretty much what education should be about?